Aside: If you have more than one option to share/embed a video, do you look at the profile of the YouTube member posting it to see what else they have saved? I do. I may like their taste in music but not their sense of humour.
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With that question, wonderingmind42 -“a high school science teacher in the process of burning out” begins a 10 minute lecture on climate change / global warming and the consequences of doing nothing. Rightly so, he titles his video “Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See [and the most important]”

Stop Press!

DON’T WATCH THIS VIDEO [the link above]. I’m serious. This message isn’t a hack (I’m the guy in the video), and it’s not a ploy to get you to actually watch it (reverse psychology).

It’s just that there’s a hole in this argument big enough to drive a Hummer through because of an assumption I didn’t realize I had (isn’t that just the way with assumptions. . .), and the argument has been UPDATED to address that hole.

So instead of watching this old, tired, hole-y video, go watch the NEW, IMPROVED version

The cost of doing nothing is a lot more expensive and disastrous. Click, watch and share with everyone.

Then do something – change public policy – to avoid the negative [far worse] scenarios.

Look closely and you will see pollen on the legs of the bees as they walk from their landing area into the hive.

Aside from the wind, the sounds in the background are an industrial area [see map link above] across the street from the gardens. I’ve been here in the summer where four hives are active and I still can’t hear the bees buzzing because of that noise unless I get really close.

This clip was filmed using a Samsung Digimax D53 camera and the 3x optical zoom. I am sitting about 3 feet away from the hive. Windows Moviemaker used to add the Titles and brighten the image 1x.

Since yesterday afternoon, I am getting an error message that says I need to complete all fields even though the Tags *are* filled in. I keep getting the same error message when I retry, even after I’ve cleared my cache and restarted my computer.

It is hard to believe that a little video I created in my basement in St. George Kansas could be seen by over 1.7 million people, be translated into (at least) 5 languages, and be shown to large audiences at major conferences on 6 continents within just one month of its creation. In some ways, the journey of the video speaks volumes that the content of the video could only hint at. I know I could not have done this with the technology available 3 years ago – certainly not 13 years ago – so the world really is different and I’m just happy to be part of the mass of people trying to rethink how we can best live in this quickly changing environment.Digital Ethnography

I did not see the Title of this video before I wrote most of the comments below.

Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us

Meta-analysis of “Web 2.0” from an anthropologist. Ideas presented visually track development of this new culture/Enlightenment/Renaissance.

As always, old systems become reactionary and work/fight to to maintain the status quo. If we as people on this planet can survive – physically, culturally and spiritually – then we, all humanity, could emerge with a common language.

Hmmmm….the machine, the Web, the social network – in the disguise of individual creativity – creates uniformity.

Interesting. Watch Voluntary Simplicity and Amish-like cults arise that reject this modernism. And rebels/terrorists/freedom fighters who try to destroy it all.
ooo

If you want to grow food successfully in containers, nurturing soil life can make a huge difference. Worm compost, for example, is full of microbes and life. Add it to your containers and you will get more vigorous growth, and far fewer pest and disease problems. Discovering this, was the biggest turning point in my growing (more important, even, than self watering containers), transforming sporadic successes into something more consistent.

Why is soil life important?

Healthy organic soil in the natural world supports a web of life including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes as well as larger creatures like worms and slugs. These organisms play a vital role in the life of plants. They break down organic matter to make the nutrients available for plant roots. They condition the soil and create air spaces and tunnels in it – improving aeration and drainage. And they compete with other more harmful organisms in the soil, ones that will damage your plants if left unchecked.

Soil life is complex – so the above is just my attempt to summarise some of the main benefits you can expect when you add life to your containers!

Why do you need to add life to containers?

Most commercial composts that we buy are sterilised and low in microbial life. So is municipal compost (it has to be made at hot temperatures to kill pathogens, killing much of the beneficial life, too). So if you want life in your containers – and to mimic soil in the natural world – you need to add it.

1. Worm compost

2. Homemade compost

3. Leaf mould

4. Manure

5. Bokashi

Bokashi is Japanese method of composting food quickly in a tightly sealed bucket. Benefits of bokashi are that you can add almost any food (even meat), it works quickly, can be done in a very small space, and doesn’t smell (much). The drawbacks are that you need to buy bokashi bran for it to work, and the pickled product is not as versatile as worm compost. But you can add it to the bottom of containers to add both organic matter and microorganisms.

Mix about 10 – 20% into the compost in the bottom third of a container.